Talk:Balaneus
From BotS I gather that "prelate" is a church position roughly equivalent to bishop and not a civil one like governor. Rhavas was named prelate of Skopentzana for instance. ML4E 22:24, January 18, 2011 (UTC) :In the Catholic Church at least, and I believe in the Eastern Orthodox as well, a prelate or primate is a kind of bishop's bishop. I live in the Diocese of Metuchen, for instance. My bishop, as well as three others in New Jersey, are subordinate to the Archbishop of Newark in the same way that the pastors of their parishes are subordinate to them. The Archbishop is a prelate and answers directly to Rome. In practice there are national councils to which the prelates would defer, but the formal hierarchy is pastor-->bishop-->prelate-->pope. The Orthodox don't have the Pope at the head, of course, but you get the idea. :I didn't read BotS but I did read Krispos and Gnatios and Iakovitzes give Krispos a detailed biography on Rhavas. From what I recall of that, he was a close equivalent: having primacy among all the clergymen in a large geographic area, subordinate only to the Patriarch of Videssos. Turtle Fan 00:09, January 19, 2011 (UTC) ::As may be, my point is Balaneus held a church position, not a civil one and so should not be categorized as governor unless in the story he had some sort of dual role. :::Oh, yes, certainly. Videssos has a very cozy relationship between church and state but the distinction is still there. Turtle Fan 01:30, January 20, 2011 (UTC) ::From BotS, Rhavas administered all temples in Skopentzana, not just the main one and was in charge of all priests and monks in the city. Its not clear if there were any temples in the surrounding countryside but I wouldn't be suprised if he had responsibility for those as well. I called him a bishop to indicate he was higher than a parish priest but not as a specific level. From your description, archbishop probably would be more accurate. From the story, it appears that the Patriarch is his immediate superior. ML4E 23:02, January 19, 2011 (UTC) ::::Hmm--Since we don't know for sure how close the one resembles the other, we probably shouldn't be too precise in this case. The RCC has primates and prelates and metropolitans because it operates in many different countries, each with their own politics and culture and infrastructure, et cetera. The Videssian church, as I recall, didn't. It was limited to one discrete political entity, even if that entity was a multinational state. Foreigners who worshipped Phos had their various heresies. Turtle Fan 01:30, January 20, 2011 (UTC) :::Haven't read it, so I abstain. TR 23:19, January 19, 2011 (UTC) ::::Didn't stop me. :) Turtle Fan 01:30, January 20, 2011 (UTC) Please see the preceding discussion as to why he was cated as "Priest" rather than "Politician". ML4E (talk) 19:53, January 29, 2018 (UTC) Bishops Category Now that I think of it, we have no Bishops category. We could support one easily enough if we wanted to. Turtle Fan 00:09, January 19, 2011 (UTC) :That could be useful. I thought of creating "Priests of Phos" as a sub-cat of "Clergymen" too. ML4E 23:02, January 19, 2011 (UTC) :::Yes, that should work. Turtle Fan 01:30, January 20, 2011 (UTC) ::It's worth pointing out that right at the moment, it would be a generic "Bishops" category without much concern for denomination or nationality (save of course, the Bishop of Rome and the Patriarchs of Videssos). On the plus side it would support an ATL/OTL split, and I certainly foresee growth. TR 23:34, January 19, 2011 (UTC) :::I believe bishop is a specifically Christian title. I've never heard of it being used in any other faith, though it's present in many different Christian sects. And as for the Patriarch, I'm not sure. Patriarchs of the Orthodox Communion are super-bishops, as the Pope is Bishop of Rome. The Orthodox Communion descends from the Christian institutions of the Byzantine Empire, which of course is the source material for Videssos. So I guess. Turtle Fan 01:30, January 20, 2011 (UTC)